What’s Your Chicken Story?™

This little henny girl is Molly. She is an Australorp that we purchased after our beloved Tilly passed away. She has those same big beautiful brown soulful eyes that Tilly did and just like Tilly- she “mutters” to herself during the day. She is curious, silly, delightful, and even carries herself like our Tilly. She has fixed a hole in my family’s heart since she came into our lives. I’m so grateful that she found her way into our flock. I think Tilly is too. I like to think that she had something to do with it from heaven above.

As I’ve been traveling around the country meeting so many people on my journeys, it never ceases to amaze me that lots of you have chicken stories and are quite eager to share them. From people who grew up on or nearby a chicken farm, those who recall them wandering around the yard, those who kept a small flock years ago and even today, I love hearing about them. Chickens are universal. They are found everywhere around the globe and on many levels connect us all.

Sometimes, I am approached by older folks who remember keeping chickens in their backyard as a food source. Now as adults they are revisiting the idea of keeping a small flock of chickens. They are interested in doing it as a hobby and enjoy seeing how chickens are popping up in the backyards of homes around them.

I also have discovered that a lot of nurses keep chickens! It must be our natural tendencies to care and nurture things. I get it!

I meet many who fill their “empty nests” with flocks of chickens after their children have gone away for college and plenty of folks like me who started out with a backyard flock for my young family.

As us chicken keepers know, there is so much more to keeping chickens than the eggs. The companionship cannot be beat. We connect with the chickens at such an amazing level. We get to know their personalities and their quirks. We name them. They look forward to seeing us and we look forward to seeing them. I’m really not sure who gets more excited on some days. They are complete treat addicts. They make us laugh. They touch our hearts. They surprise us in so many ways and on so many levels. They are magical and you can even learn their language if you just give it a go! Being a backyard chicken keeper allows you to connect with them in ways that you never thought possible. I love it when things take our hearts by surprise!

For the past five years I have been sharing our chicken stories with you and now I’d like to ask you, What is Your Chicken Story?™ Please feel free to share your favorite chicken thought, memory, or something that touched your heart with us in the comments below or via email. Did you grow up with chickens?Why did you get chickens? What are your favorite breeds? What did they do to make you laugh? How did they make a bad day better? I’d love to hear from you. Each month I’ll share one of your chicken stories.